Hello everyone. For today’s craft beer review I’m going to be trying another collaboration brew. This time it’s from the minds of Stillwater Artisanal Ales from Baltimore, Maryland and the Mikkeller Brewery located in Kobenhavn, Denmark.
I have had the opportunity to try quite a few brews from Mikkeller, however I have yet to have anything from Stillwater, so I’m really interested in seeing how this beer tastes.
The website, mikkeller.dk, didn’t provide any information about this brew, but stillwaterales.blogspot.com did, so let’s see what it says.
Mikkel and Brian are two of the world’s most unconventional brewers. By designing beers at various breweries around the globe, they have found the freedom to experiment and innovate, resulting in unique beers that often blur the lines of definition. After having met at a festival in Bodegraven, NL the two realized that their first creations both were called Stateside. It was then an obvious decision to make the two recipes into a new product, packed full of piney, resinous hops, and backed by the esters of a farmhouse yeast strain.
Let’s sip.
This beer came in a 25.4 oz. bottle and it had an ABV of 7.5%.
It poured a hazy orange color with a huge white head. The texture was soapy, rocky and soft. It had an awesome retention time, however the lacing was a bit patchy and not quite as clingy or sticky as I was hoping with such a gargantuan crown.
The aroma brought forth a light bit of lemon and orange citrus. A soft and subtle, but distinguished, barnyard funk as well as some easily noticed yeast components swirled around my nostrils. It was quite grassy too. A very light peppery spice added a tickle to the nose and a remote floral hint added some complexity.
The taste provided a very nice and easy going funkiness. Again, lemon citrus and sweet orange peel. It was only slightly tart however. More of the grassy and floral hops. The yeasty savors were not exceptionally strong, although they were duly noted. A nice peppery bite came through on the back end.
The mouthfeel was medium bodied. Very, very dry, sharp, bitey, refreshing and crisp. The carbonation was very high and a touch of warmth was felt either from the alcohol or the spicy peppercorns. An excellent amount of flavor was left behind after each sip too.
Overall, I thought this was a very nice beer. The drinkability was great and it was easy going enough so as to not completely obliterate one’s mind or palate if they had never tried a Farmhouse/Saison styled beer before. It did, obviously, have some of those characteristics, yet they were more of a secondary characteristic, which allowed for some contemplation without completely dominating the drinking experience. I definitely think this brew is worth a try if you can obtain it. I enjoyed it very much. Have you guys ever tried the Stillwater/Mikkeller Two Gypsies: Our Side before? What did you think about it? Leave a comment if you would like. I’d love to hear a second opinion to see if you discovered anything that I may have missed.
Thanks for reading everyone. I really appreciate it.
Until next time. Cheers.
Score: 4.05 out of 5
Grade: A-
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